1. Field of the Technology
The present technology described herein relates to a game apparatus, storage medium storing a game program, and game control method. More specifically, the present invention relates to a game apparatus comprising a housing of a size capable of being held by a player and a display means including a display screen provided in the housing and on which a game is advanced by the player who rotates the housing around an axis perpendicular to the display screen, a storage medium storing a game program used for the game apparatus, and a game control method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical hand-held game machines and game consoles of conventional types are configured for a player to play a game by performing game operations through manipulation of buttons and joystick. Meanwhile, there are also some special game apparatuses on which a game is played by moving the housing itself of a game machine equipped with a display screen or the housing itself of an operating controller.
For example, a document 1 (Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2001-170358) discloses a related art for detecting the tilt of a hand-held game machine's housing and applying the detected tilt to a game. More specifically, this document proposes a game in which the amount and direction of movement of a character vary depending on the amount and direction of tilt of the housing. Additionally, a document 2 (Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2003-62341) discloses a related art for detecting the tilt of a hand-held game machine's housing and applying the detected tilt to a so-called “block-dropping” puzzle game. That is, this document proposes a puzzle game apparatus in which puzzle elements are moved in the direction of the tilt.
Moreover, a document 3 (Japanese Patent Laying-open No. H11-99284) discloses a controller with a built-in angular velocity sensor. This controller detects the angular velocity of rotation of the housing around an X axis, Y axis and Z axis, that is, it detects rolling, pitching and yawing of the housing, and then issues operational instructions by its own movement as in the case of using operating buttons.
The game apparatus in the document 1 or document 2 realizes a game with a new sense of operation, which is advanced by tilting the housing of the game machine. However, giving a tilt to the game machine itself would cause the display screen to deviate from a state of being right opposite to the player. Thus, this apparatus has the drawback of making a game screen hard to see, which may spoil the fun of game playing.
Meanwhile, the controller described in the document 3 makes it possible to make a game progress by tilting or rotating the controller itself. However, the controller cannot be operated in a manner integrated with the game screen, which does not make it possible to provide a new way of enjoying a game except that another operation is added to normal button and joystick operations.
Besides, even a combination of the related arts in the documents 1 to 3 could offer just a game in which, when yawing has been detected, for example, a character or puzzle element is merely moved in the direction of the yawing.